On Jan. 16 we posted about a Guardian reader whose commenting privileges were not suspended by the editors, despite the fact that he promoted Holocaust denial in the comment section under aGuardian story (on Jan. 14) about Holocaust education in the UK, and the fact that his user profile contained a link to a white supremacist site called ‘British Resistance‘.

We asked our readers to consider emailing the Guardian’s ‘Comment Editor’ asking for an explanation regarding why someone who clearly violates ‘Comment is Free’ “community standards” has not been banned.

Today we were contacted by a fan of our blog, a Holocaust educator and author named Dan Hennessy, copying us on the email he sent to the Guardian.

Here it is, with Mr. Hennessy’s permission:

To the editors:

As a Holocaust educator, it is disturbing that you treat the individual using the moniker “CorshmCrusader,” who is known to be a white supremacist, as you would any other “contributor” to your periodical; and yet, you [ban others] who obviously disagree with you. Who is allowed freedom of speech in your domain? Everyone? Or just those who toe the line with regard to your ideological bias?

I just taught 1984 by George Orwell in an upper division secondary English class. Your decisions in this regard seem quite in line with Ministry of Truth standards.

~ Daniel Hennessy

Again, here’s the email for the Guardian editor if you also want to inquire about the status of CorshmCrusader.

Adam… see “pingback” … this experience with Holocaust denial in The Guardian as reported by you triggered an addition to the mission of my blog… the assault on Israel’s legitimacy needs “all hands on deck” … keep up the great work!

Thanks, Adam… that’s encouraging coming from a veteran like yourself. I see all my objectives and concerns as a mixed unity that can be addressed each according to its own time and place. CiF Watch proved to be an open door of insight for me… fruit of your labor, so to speak…

Mr. Wunderlich, I think that the more fully integrated the effort to combat anti-Semitism is, the more successful it will be. Holocaust denial in state-sponsored mass media is widespread throughout the Arab world. Abu Mazen did his post-grauate dissertation on the subject and that dissertation, I understand, is the groundwork for secondary educational curricula in the Palestinian Authority state-sponsored schools. The underlying assumption, as I understand it, is that if a majority of people believe that the state of Israel is a direct result of international sympathy for the Jewish people in the wake of the Shoah, then to delegitimize the Holocaust is to delegitimize the statehood of Israel. As I, and more scholarly others than I, see it, there is a direct connection between Holocaust denial and the desire to destroy Israel. And it is a force to be reckoned with. That, and the fact that the Holocaust is not being taught as it should in the Western world – as a history course in every high school – the overall result is that the memory of the Holocaust is under attack at a time when the youngest generations are not being taught that it happened. The candle, so to speak, is burning at both ends in this epic assault on human memory… which is a HUMAN problem, not “just” a Jewish problem. A fully integrated approach to combat the assault on human memory is warranted. Funding of Holocaust education in the form of direct teaching events such as workshops and seminars is an urgent need in the crisis that is occurring. It is my view that the Christian community should take the leadership role in this “rescue” effort to save the memory of the Holocaust as it was the European Christian community that turned its head the other way, so to speak, with its silence in the first place. But that’s must my personal take on the matter at hand. You raise an incredibly insightful and profoundly relevant issue that is at the very heart of a vigorous resistance to the anti-Semitic propaganda known as Holocaust denial: a fully integrated approach, based on resistance such as CiF Watch provides, coupled with educational efforts, especially directed toward youth, is essential to winning this battle. The educational efforts must come from a new source as the traditional source – public educational systems – are falling by the wayside. This “D-Day” of combined forces to come together at “Normandy,” so to speak, needed to happen yesterday. And yet, to not begin at all would be the most lethal mistake those on the side of Truth could make. Thank you for this opportunity to elaborate. It’s good for the soul as the fight, for one small person such as myself, is a frustrating one, for so many reasons…

“As I, and more scholarly others than I, see it, there is a direct connection between Holocaust denial and the desire to destroy Israel”

Really?

What’s the link between Europe’s Nazi officials who sent millions of innocent Jews to the gas chambers, and the Middle-East’s Arab governments who oppose the state of Israel because its creation caused the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, creating millions of refugees who have never been authorized to go back home?

The Nazis who assassinated millions of Jews were Christian Europeans, they had no link to Muslims who were living in the Middle-East, most of them under British of French rule.

Peace between Israel and all Middle-Eastern countries is vital, and everyone must strive to achieve this and put an end to the conflict. However it has nothing to do with the genocide which was organized by Nazi Germany in the 1940s.

Pretzel. You need to learn literary criticism skills. Hennessy did not equate the Guardian with the MoT. He said that the editors’ “decisions” in this case were worthy of the MoT. That is quite a different thing.

In the same way, I tell my children when they are naughty – “that was a naughty thing to do” rather than “you are a naughty boy”. Get the difference?

Thank you, for that insight, Labenal. You are correct in your observation. I also speak to my children about their behavior, not their “ontological substance,” their character as a person. That is a wise and astute observation. As for my suitability as a Holocaust educator, I would add this to what you’ve already pointed out: one of the most fascinating areas of study within the subject of the Holocaust, for me, is the phenomenon of spiritual and psychological resistance; both within the Jewish population that was targeted and the partisan underground that was sabotaging German efforts and rescuing Jews. I do not fool myself into thinking that I or anyone else can necessarily “change” the editorial viewpoint of a highly institutionalized organization such as The Guardian. I can, however, use my voice to resist their efforts; to let them know that there resistance to their propaganda exists. We need to challenge anti-Semitism on every front, exactly as Adam and CiF Watch do with their efforts, as a means of resistance. Anti-Semitism is referred to as “the world’s oldest hatred.” It took 2,000 years of anti-Jewish Christian theology to prepare the European climate for the ultimate “success” of the Final Solution; for “Christian Europe” to remain paralyzed and silent during the Holocaust. Research shows that resistance slowed or otherwise affected the Nazi effort to annihilate the Jewish community of Europe wherever it occurred. If I write in a less-than-conversational tone of voice, it is the voice of resistance I am working through, not the voice of persuasion.

Mr Hennessy… how dare you compare the heroism of Jews who fought back and affected the Nazi effort to annihilate the Jewish community of Europe, with Mr Levick’s obsessive attacks against the Guardian, a British newspaper that reports on facts and news all over the world?

How dare you compare the heroic act of Jewish resistance that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto to Mr Levick’s blogging?

Yes he is. He is comparing the Jewish resistance to the Nazis as an attempt to save other Jews and to slow down the Holocaust, to CIF Watch’s “resistance” to the Guardian.

This is unacceptable. There is nothing in common between the Jews (and gentiles) who sacrificed their lives to fight the Nazi-led genocide of European Jews, and a website which constantly attacks journalists one of the most respected newspapers in Europe.

Dan refers on the one hand to WWII-era resistance to the Holocaust. Then he refers to modern-day resistance to anti-Semitism. Of course there is a common historical context. But I do not see him making a direct comparison, or – as you would suggest – an equation of the two.

You can’t compare the heroism of men and women who fought the Nazis with makeshift weapons, knowing they were going to their death, to people blogging or writing articles in today’s Western democracies.

Trivializing the Holocaust is unacceptable. The murder of millions of Jews in Europe was a tragedy which must never, ever be forgotten. Using this tragedy to promote one’s political agenda is unacceptable.

Your comment is not worth addressing beyond PBerg’s conclusive articulation of the truth of the matter. His voice of reason regarding my defense of the memory of the Shoah settles the matter completely. Well done, Mr. Pberg. Much appreciated.